Spartans injured at provincials

Times Reporter  

 

The Strathmore High School (SHS) Spartans travelled to Lloydminster for girls basketball provincials on March 20, and won their first game against St. Joseph Catholic High School 79-47. 

The next day however, the sixth-seeded Spartans dropped to the host, third-seed Holy Rosary High School, in the quarter-final, 57-49.

“We kind of hit our end at Holy Rosary. I think that kind of did us in, in our hearts,” Spartans coach Dion Galandy said.

Following the quarter-final loss, SHS was moved to the consolation bracket, and played Winston Churchill High School in the non-medal side, losing 50-40. They had defeated Churchill earlier in the season.

“I think our injuries and all of our sicknesses sort of caught up to us after we lost to Holy Rosary,” Galandy said. “Our goal was to win a medal. As soon as we lost in the round to play for a medal, I think we kind of – I don’t know if our hearts were really in it.”

Galandy played with eight ladies, who were not all 100 per cent, he said. He originally had ten players on his roster, but they’ve been plagued with injuries all year. Not only that, but the Spartans finished their contest with Holy Rosary at 1 p.m., and tipped off against Winston Churchill at 5 p.m.

“We had very little time to rest, especially being short-benched. We twisted a couple more ankles that we had to tape up at provincials. It’s just been a tough season. The fact that we accomplished what we did, with the injuries that we had, is really fantastic,” Galandy said. “I’m very proud of what we did. You have to set goals pretty high – but we definitely went looking for more.”

With veterans Jessica Murphy, Carter Jones, and Kate Harris all graduating, Galandy hopes to have seven players return for next season.

“We’ll have a few new faces on the team, but a pretty good core group for next year,” he said. “(This year) was a good experience for the girls. We won a banner for South Central Zones, the first one in Strathmore High School’s history – that’s a pretty big accomplishment.”